I was thinking of the advertisement on radio this morning about being regulated by IFSRA and so on, and wondering if I could speak as fast as that. I thank the Chairman and members for inviting us to attend. I will be brief as I understand the time constraint. My colleague, Mr. Thomas O'Brien, may elucidate on one or two issues as I go through them, or on the questions, because there are some practical issues that might arise.
I submitted to the committee a copy of the presentation and I will not read through it but will deal with the principal points. It is important to emphasise that while we are representing industry, we are also health and safety practitioners and I want members to be aware that we are looking at this in a professional, as well as a business, context. Certain of the recommendations and observations we set out are based on what we believe could improve the Bill and are not intended to be totally negative. This is why there are 51 items listed in the table submitted to the committee.
We welcome certain aspects of the Bill, including the consolidation of legislation, the single source approach and the measures on intoxicants. We believe that in the current society, business, like many other areas, must address and manage health and safety. If our hands are tied, we cannot manage health and safety and certain of the measures of the Bill will assist in that regard.
However, there is much in the Bill that concerns us. While we all are in favour of progress, moving forward and improving the situation, there is always a danger that we may miss some of the nuances. I emphasise that in our presentation we have tried in a tabular form not only to present complaints or concerns, but to give a justification and explanation so that the committee can fully appreciate the rationale behind those concerns.
I do not underestimate the significant cost of the Bill. We have engaged in wide ranging consultation with our members throughout the country and have run many seminars. We conservatively estimate that the impact of all the measures of the Bill will impose an additional cost on business of €700 million in the first year of application. If members wish, I can explain that in more detail. If any other legislation with such a financial impact was being brought forward, those in this room would be very concerned. It is significant. In this regard I appreciate the function and the responsibility of the committee and its concern for business, especially small businesses.
In attempting to meet your time constraints and rather than going through all of the 51 items, Chairman, I have tried to summarise them under four headings. For example, we have looked at the question of cost. If one wants to see examples of where cost implications arise, one can refer to items 1, 7, 19, 29 and 43 in the table. If one wants to specifically focus on where we, from a business point of view, see implications of cost, it is principally in those items.